If you find yourself confused about the implications of the new tax code that was passed last month, don’t feel too badly. The person who does your taxes is probably trying to figure it out as well.

“Absolutely,” said Trey Todd, manager at Condley & Company when asked if accountants felt pressure about learning the new tax law.

“We take it upon ourselves to be able to answer people’s questions," Todd said. "We were just kind of scrambling a couple of weeks ago.”

Tax laws are changed or added almost every year, but tax law overhauls don’t happen too often. The last one was under President Reagan in 1986.

“I was 2 (years old) then,” said Todd. “Some of the guys who have been a here a long time said this is just like 1986 again.”

Kris Southward was a young accountant in 1986, having just started his firm, and he said this tax overhaul is a little different, giving the timing of the bill that was passed.

“It comes at a bad time of the year for us, right at the end,” he said.

One of the problems, said both accountants, is the difficulty in finding good sources of information about the new laws, given the politics that surrounded its passage.

“I don’t want to get into the politics of it,” said Southward. “I’m a conservative Republican, and what this will do to the deficit, I don’t know. Hopefully, it will encourage job growth that will create more revenue. If I was going to gauge it by paying less taxes, I think this is going to be a good thing.”

Todd said that he has found it more advantageous to look at the law itself, rather than read interpretations of it.

“There’s a lot of confusing articles written about this,” he said. “Quite honestly, I’ve found it more helpful to read the law itself.”

While new tax laws are added and old ones amended each year, Southward said the minor changes are generally small in their impact than are the generational overhauls.

“Most of the time, the changes don’t affect most people,” he said. “This will affect every single person.”

One area that may have the largest impact is increasing the standard deduction, which has nearly doubled. For single filers, the deduction will increase from $6,350 to $12,000 and for married couples filing jointly it has increased from $12,700 to $24,000.

The child tax credit has been doubled to $2,000 and is available to more people, from single parents making up to $200,000 and to married couples making up to $400,000.

Some deductions will no longer exist, such as moving expenses.

“We just hired a new preacher at our church, and he has to move here,” said Southward. “If we had hired him in 2017, we could have deducted the moving expenses. We can’t this year.”

Todd said other changes will be felt in areas not noticed by the public.

“There’s a huge ripple effect,” he said. “Software is going to have to be changed and forms are going to have to be changed.”

Fortunately for Southward and Todd and the rest of us, the new laws don’t affect the filings for 2017.

“For 2017, it’s going to be pretty much like prior years,” said Todd.

That being the case, Southward said people, especially people who operate small businesses, needed to be careful in getting all the deductions to which they’re entitled.

Things such as mileage incurred while doing business or sales tax paid for business expenses. Money spent on a home remodel in 2017 can be placed in a Home Savings Account and exempted from taxes until April 15. Charitable gifts can be deducted.

“If you had an expense that was part business, be sure you take the business part,” he said.